Here’s Part 10 on my series about Iodine, a critical element for your health that most of us are severely depleted in! This week’s input includes my synopsis of some of the information provided by the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.

___ Iodine is a non-metallic trace element, and it is required by humans for the synthesis of thyroid hormones. Serious Iodine deficiency is an important health problem throughout much of the world, as most of the earth’s Iodine is found in oceans, and Iodine content in the soil varies with region. Seaweeds, sea veggies and ocean fish are the main sources of this CRITICAL element.

The older, land-locked countries or internal areas of large land masses have an old exposed soil surface, so more Iodine has been leached away by erosion and weather. In mountainous regions, (such as the Himalayas, the Andes, the Alps) and in annually-flooded river valleys, (such as the Ganges an Nile), these are among the most severely iodine-deficient areas in the world.

Severe lack of Iodine causes irreversible brain damage.

Function

___ Iodine is an essential component of the thyroid hormones, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4). So, Iodine is essential for normal thyroid function, your metabolism and your ability to control your weight. Your body must also be able to convert T4 into the active form, T3 and some groups of people have problems doing this chemical conversion, so they do not have enough “energy”, and also gain weight.

To meet your body’s demand for thyroid hormones, your thyroid gland traps Iodine from the blood and then incorporates it into thyroid hormones. These are stored and released into the circulation when needed, and travel to all tissues and organ systems.

In target tissues, such as the liver and the brain, T3, the physiologically active thyroid hormone, can bind to thyroid receptors in the nuclei of cells and then regulate gene expression.

In target tissues, T4, the most abundant circulating thyroid hormone, can be converted to T3 by selenium-containing enzymes. So having enough selenium in your diet is also important, as again, most people are selenium-deficient.

This process is how thyroid hormones regulate a number of physiologic activities in your body, including: growth, development, metabolism and reproductive function.

___ The regulation of thyroid function is a complex process that involves the brain (hypothalamus) and pituitary gland, as well as the thyroid gland itself. You can read more about it at: Scientific Iodine Information

But, it is important to know that, in response to decreased blood levels of T4, the pituitary gland increases its output of TSH, and that persistently elevated TSH may lead enlargement of the thyroid gland, also known as goiter.

Deficiency

___ Iodine deficiency is now accepted as the most common cause of preventable brain damage in the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) affect 740 million people throughout the world (that’s about 10% of all humans! But 35% are in jeopardy, due to deficiency of Iodine.). Nearly 50 million people suffer from some degree of IDD-related brain damage.

IDD’s result in: mental retardation, hypothyroidism, goiter and varying degrees of other growth and developmental abnormalities.

Estimates are that over 35% of the world’s population (almost 2 billion people) has insufficient Iodine intake (as measured by urinary iodine excretion below 100 µg/L. Moreover, this analysis estimated that 36.5% of school-age children (6-12 years old) worldwide (285 million total children) has insufficient Iodine intake, and are therefore at risk for brain damage.

Since the 1990’s, major international efforts have produced dramatic improvements in the correction of Iodine deficiency, mainly through the use of iodized salt and iodized vegetable oil in iodine-deficient countries.

Adequate Iodine intake will usually reduce the size of goiters, but the reversibility of the other effects of hypothyroidism depends on an individual’s stage of development. Iodine deficiency has adverse effects in all stages of human development, but is most damaging to the developing brain of fetuses and infants.

In addition to regulating many aspects of growth and development, thyroid hormone is critical for the myelination of your central nervous system, which is most active before and shortly after birth. The myelin sheath covers nerves, the way insulating rubber or plastic does for electrical wires, and it prevents the short-circuiting and disruption of our nerves’ messages. MS, Multiple Sclerosis, is a dis-ease where the nerves have been deprived of their myelin sheath; it is presently increasing in incidence.

The effects of Iodine deficiency by developmental stage

Prenatal development

Fetal Iodine deficiency is caused by Iodine deficiency in the mother, and one of the most devastating effects of that deficiency is congenital hypothyroidism, (referred to as cretinism). It results in irreversible mental retardation.

Newborns and infants

Infant mortality is increased in areas of Iodine deficiency. When Iodine deficiency is corrected, there is an increase in childhood survival. Infancy is also a period of rapid brain growth and development and normal brain growth depends on Iodine intake. Deficiency results in impaired intellectual development.

Children and adolescents

Iodine deficiency in children and adolescents is often associated with goiter, and goiter peaks in adolescence. It is more common in girls, as the female thyroid is twice the size of the male’s gland; so girls automatically need more Iodine. Any Iodine deficient child can show lower IQs and a higher incidence of learning disabilities than matched groups from Iodine-sufficient children. A meta-analysis of 18 studies concluded that Iodine deficiency alone lowered mean IQ scores in children by 13.5 points. That’s HUGE!

When I taught school, I had two children in one year’s class who had IQ’s of 70 (as well as others in the same class with IQ’s above 135); it was a teaching night-mare with such disparate needs (but I enjoyed the challenge of teaching the brightest to excel). However, teaching the two at IQ 70 was nearly impossible. It is heart-breaking to know that if it was Iodine related, it could have been eliminated by proper pre-natal and post-natal care for those kids. It’s another reason why I am trying to hammer this lesson home so hard!

Adults

Inadequate Iodine intake can still result in goiter and hypothyroidism in adults, during any part of their life. The effects of hypothyroidism are more subtle in adult brains, but research suggests that low-functioning thyroid due to Iodine deficiency results in slower response times and impaired mental function.

Pregnancy and Lactation

Daily Iodine requirements are increased in pregnant and breast-feeding women. And, Iodine deficiency during pregnancy has been associated with increased incidence of miscarriage, stillbirth and birth defects, as well as decreased intelligence for the child.

Moreover, severe Iodine deficiency during pregnancy and lactation affects the fetus, infant and child. Iodine-deficient women who are breast-feeding cannot provide sufficient Iodine to their infants (who are particularly vulnerable to the effects of Iodine deficiency).

A daily prenatal supplement providing the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of Iodine will help to ensure that pregnant and breast-feeding women consume sufficient Iodine during these critical periods. Check if you can get this! Not all pre-natal vitamins include Iodine and Selenium.

Increased Cancer Risk

Because Iodine deficiency results in increased Iodine trapping by the thyroid, Iodine-deficient individuals of all ages are more susceptible to radiation-induced thyroid cancer from the radio-active Iodine produced from the environment due to human activity (nuclear energy industry and above-ground atomic testing). If you are eating seaweeds, in sufficient quantity, your thyroid will first take up the healthy Iodine 127 isotope, and reject the radio-active, toxic Iodine 131 version, (which will otherwise hog your Iodine receptors in deficiency disease states causing ill health for you and disturbed metabolism).

Nutrient Interactions

Selenium deficiency can also exacerbate the effects of Iodine deficiency, as selenium-dependent enzymes are also required for the conversion of thyroxine (T4) to the biologically active thyroid hormone (T3). Additionally, deficiencies of vitamin A or iron may also exacerbate the effects of Iodine deficiency.

Goitrogens – Substances Causing Thyroid Damage

Some foods interfere with Iodine utilization or thyroid hormone production; culprit substances in these foods are called goitrogens.

Cassava, which contains a compound that is metabolized to thiocyanate and that blocks thyroidal uptake of Iodine. Some species of millet and cruciferous vegetables (cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, mustard greens) also contain goitrogens. Further, the ever-touted soybean isoflavones, genistein and daidzein, have been found to inhibit thyroid hormone synthesis. Most of these goitrogens are not of clinical importance unless they are consumed in large amounts or there is coexisting Iodine deficiency (which exists in most Americans).

Results also indicate that tobacco smoking may be associated with an increased risk of goiter, in iodine-deficient areas.

Individuals at risk of Iodine deficiency

Vegetarian, vegan and meat-eating diets that exclude iodized salt, fish and seaweed have been found to contain very little Iodine.

Urinary Iodine excretion studies suggest that Iodine intakes have also declined in Switzerland, New Zealand, as well as in the U.S. (but recently the US was showing progress, as was Switzerland) . This lack may be happening due to dietary recommendations to eat less salt, so iodized salt intake needs to be replaced with use of ocean fish and / or use of seaweeds and sea veggies.

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)

Dr. Guy Abraham, MD, world-expert in Iodine says the RDA is set way too low. Read about this in the early part of my series.

The RDA for Iodine was reevaluated by the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) of the Institute of Medicine in 2001, and it was slightly increased. These are the currents RDA’s.

I apologize for the formatting here. I’ll try to make a table when time permits. Meanwhile, please just persist to read it.
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Minimal RDA Intake: double-click on the image to enlarge it

*Source of intake should be from mother’s milk, food and formula only.
___ Children with cystic fibrosis may also be more sensitive to the adverse effects of excess Iodine.
___ Individuals with Iodine deficiency, nodular goiter or autoimmune thyroid disease may be sensitive to these intake levels which are considered safe for the general population.
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You can get too much Iodine and that is detrimental, just like too little is, but it’s almost impossible to get too much if you get you just get your Iodine from normal portions of food. It is rare for diets of natural foods to supply more than 2,000 mcg of Iodine/day, and most diets supply less than 1,000 mcg of Iodine/day.

The exception is people living in the northern coastal regions of Japan, whose diets contain large amounts of seaweed. They have been found to have Iodine intakes ranging from 50,000 to 80,000 mcg (50-80 mg) of iodine/day, and are healthy! But, they built-up those tolerances over a life-time of use. For you, use just a small serving of seaweed daily or a nori wrap or some seaweed stock or ocean fish a few times a week to get a reasonable quota.

Food sources

The Iodine in most foods depends on the Iodine soil content. Seafood is rich in Iodine because marine animals can concentrate the Iodine from seawater. Certain types of seaweed (e.g. brown kelps like wakame and kombu) are also very rich in Iodine, for the same reason.

Processed foods may contain slightly higher levels of Iodine due to the use of Iodized salt or food additives, such as calcium iodate and potassium iodate.

Dairy products are relatively good sources of Iodine because Iodine is used to clean cow’s udders before milking and it is commonly added to animal feed in America. But, be aware that in the U.K. and northern Europe, Iodine levels in dairy products tend to be lower in summer when cattle are allowed to graze in pastures with low soil Iodine content.
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The table below lists the Iodine content of some foods in micrograms (mcg); 1000 mcg = 1 gram. These values should be considered approximate. See how they affect your Optimal Iodine goal. Double-click on the image to enlarge it.

*A three-ounce serving of meat is about the size of a deck of cards.** may be greater than 4,500 mcg !!!
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I’ll continue next week.

(c)2010 Em at https://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com
If you desire to use my article or quote more than one paragraph of it, please write for permission to use it at the About Me tab on the upper navigation bar. Thanks!

I’ve written five articles on the subject of Iodine because it’s amazingly essential for our Health! How come you haven’t heard about it before? Well, it’s complacency and ignorance in current Public Health circles and in your doctor’s office. The scientific research is quite clear, and you need to take about 20 – 25 minutes to read the other 4 parts in this series, for background. If you are a regular reader, then just continue in this article’s text after these links.

LINKS to the previous articles in the series. Please read first. It won’t take long and your health really does depend on knowing this!

___ In this edition, as one of the topics, let’s discuss Iodine, Pregnancy and Breastfeeding, first.

Thyroid hormone and your thyroid gland, together with iodine, are the most important factors by far for completion of a normal pregnancy and delivering a normal baby.

Iodine is put into the mother’s milk by the lactating breast to levels that are 30 times the levels in the mother’s blood (your body can only put iodine in your breast milk if you have enough to give). I do not know how much (if any) is put into baby formulas. It would not be the first time that formula-makers have missed an essential ingredient. Maybe the amounts used would help explain the rash of learning “disabilities” and generally lower IQ scores in past decades, as Moms feeding their babies by breast milk has declined.

If you find after delivery or while nursing, that your thyroid has become sluggish and you have ‘low thyroid” symptoms (like fatigue, cold extremities, weight gain etc.), then maybe your body is giving all your Iodine stores to your baby and leaving you with nothing left to operate your thyroid and metabolism with. In those circumstances, your immunity is also put at risk, along with many other possibilities to erode your health. Making sure that you maintain proper Iodine levels for you and your baby is critical. You have to learn what foods are iodine rich and then eat them everyday in normal-size portions.

Iodine has very important functions for your child’s brain development before and after birth.

Iodine deficiency in pregnant or nursing mothers can lead to statistically significant neuro-cognitive deficits in their infants. Lack of iodine creates metabolic havoc and may create irreversible developmental brain damage during gestation and in the first several years of life, according to Peter Laurberg, from Aalborg Hospital in Denmark, and his colleagues. If it is bad enough, your child could become a cretin, which is not reversible.

Just start eating seaweed, daily. It tastes good; it really does. Next week, I’ll include more recipes, but meanwhile, Japanese and Macrobiotic cuisines offer the best chance to find some more recipes, along with Korean and Chinese cuisines, to a lesser extent.

[[Never buy Chinese source seaweed unless you are sure there is NO ecological damage in the area where it is harvested. With China’s pollution, this is almost impossible.]]

And, if you are concerned or interested, then take Dr. Abraham’s Iodine Loading Test to find out your body’s Iodine status (his lab is Optimox). All three labs mentioned below supply their own protocol for details on collection of urine samples, pooling samples for 24 hr. and sending a 2 ounce aliquot to the Laboratory for analysis. It would always be best to confirm that you can take this test when you are already pregnant; I don’t know the answer to that.

___Dr. Ryan Drum, PhD, one of the world’s experts on seaweeds, the best source of Iodine, also mentions that there is a generational aspect to whether you and your future grandchildren will have a body optimizing Iodine and providing protection for any babies you, your daughters and grand-daughters produce.

Read more here: How Seaweed Heals and How To Get Enough Iodine Read especially if you have chronic disease, have had recent trauma, surgery or are having chemotherapy. Additionally, seaweeds can help if you need anti-viral treatment or get pneumonia. Brown seaweeds are also the only vegetarian source of thyroid hormone able to be used by humans. Dr. Drum also discusses using seaweed as treatment “for prevention of Dioxin and PCB uptake” and to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (which he regards as poisoning the brain’s fatty tissue) in troops who have been exposed to chemicals during warfare.

___ It is critical to raise your iodine consumption gradually if you are deficient. Let your organ systems accommodate. You just can’t “catch up quickly” to levels the Japanese use. Too much, too quickly can cause other equally serious health problems. Stay with the amounts Dr. Ryan Drum, PhD, Dr. Abrahams, Dr. Flechas, Dr. Brownstein suggest and work up to 50mg of Iodine a day, over a number of months, even as much as a year.

___ Unless your food happens to be organically-farmed where seaweed actually has been applied as fertilizer, almost no land plants provide iodine, and, as Dr. Drum alerts us, unfortunately, my favorite whole sea salts (Celtic salts) do not have enough, either. There’s just not enough left in even gently-evaporated sea water; you must eat ocean plants (seaweeds) or ocean fish which eat ocean plants to get your Iodine requirement everyday, as Nature intended.

Dr. Ryan Drum, PhD also says, “Individuals with “seafood allergy” seem especially sensitive to iodine. Contrary to some practitioners and their believing patients, he says nobody has “iodine allergy”. No iodine, no life.” Use seaweed as your source rather than fish if you have concerns.

These numbers are estimates and will vary considerably by season, location, age of the plant and harvest practices. Sources for buying these were provided in my previous articles.

___ Dr. Drum has learned that the Japanese and other Asians who eat much more seaweed than the rest of the world does, apparently soak their Kombu and other seaweeds in freshwater for 10-30 minutes prior to using in miso broth (dashi) and other cooking. He says this effectively removes about 60% of the iodine (Hazutosi).

Curiously, he was also told by Japanese nationals that the kombu was then also left in the miso broth for 10-20 minutes and then discarded. It can be used several times, if left to dry out again. And, if you intend to use it several times, then maybe forego the “soaking in fresh water” and just allow the first dashi to have 60% iodine and remaining 2 later dashi soups to have a lesser amount, at least sometimes.

For people like the Japanese and Okinawans, who eat large amounts of seafood and sea veggies, the soaking or prolonged rinsing of high-iodine content seaweeds may reduce the risks for excess iodine-induced disease. But, notice that the all-pervasive “sushi” wrap is made from nori, which has low levels of iodine, and therefore does not require pre-treatment.

Sprinkling dry, cut nori on rice, as a garnish on anything or wrapping sushi, is a good way to get started, along with using about 1t of powdered Japanese-sourced or American-sourced Kombu a day, (to a max in later months of a total of 1Tablespoon of kombu powder per person, spread between 3 meals and snacks most days).

___ Dr. Ryan Drum, PhD also sheds light on another likely wide-spread set of conditions which seaweed can alleviate – potassium deficiency. And, you likely need to take a daily supplement of selenium (this is another mineral researchers find chronically lacking in the general public, and especially in diabetics).

Dr. Drum says, ” I believe that almost any craving for salt in our dietary times of heavily salted (with only “table-salt” i.e. sodium chloride), home-cooking, restaurant meals and preserved foods is a strong indication of potassium deficiency, especially in pregnancy.”

Potassium is an essential mineral, needed for even minimal nerve and muscle functioning. It is also a cross-membrane transporter ion for your brain’s neurotransmittors (like serotonin – which prevents depression) and also for transporting your hormones. This may also help to explain the huge increase in those with depression and other endocrine system disorders, like diabetes.

Dr. Drum has observed that “adding high-potassium foods, especially seaweeds, to the diets of people with A.D.D. (instead of Ritalin) can significantly improve behavior and mental functioning” in children and in adults.

Similarly, fibromyalgia patients, who are: exhausted, forgetful, moody and agitated, as well as those with: anxiety disorders and depression are all favorably improved with high-potassium diets and seaweeds.

Talk to your physician about this and have your doctor contact Dr. Drum (contact info is on his web-site http://www.ryandrum.com.
Potassium supplementation and levels must always be monitored carefully. Too much and too little are both bad.

Well, we’re not done yet, but it’s enough for now.

Best to all — Em

Read more in the Title Archive on the upper navigation bar.

(c)2009 Em at https://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com
If you would like to quote from or include this article, please contact me at the About Me page above in order to get permission. Please respect my copyright. Thanks!

Yes, I know it’s Thanksgiving in America in 2 days, but my post and recipe is one for you to incorporate, even daily, as much as possible, the way the longest-lived peoples do. That’s really something to be Thankful for!

So, find a way to start this food in your diet over the 4 day holiday week-end. You won’t be sorry. The more I learn about seaweed, iodine and the complex, healing polysaccharides which it contains, the more amazed I am.

Seaweed is really the Foundational Food of Life.

This low glycemic, high nutrition food has no calories and lots of fiber, wonderful mineral content, along with great, clean taste.

Introduce your children to this pH alkaline, life-giving food, too. Start them on better habits than you had. In the 1950’s Americans used to eat 4 times as much iodine as they do now! This current lack is probably behind most of the massive rise in chronic diseases and conditions, like diabetes, heart disease and cancer, especially breast cancer and prostate cancer.

You just cannot spend your food money more wisely than to buy organic seaweed from one of the firms which carefully source where and how it was grown. These companies are listed in the previous parts which I mention below.

Do NOT buy any Chinese-sourced seaweed. Assays have shown that the unrelenting pollution of their air, sea and water has resulted in arsenic in their seaweed products.

Dr. Ray Sahelian, MD states: “Fucoidan substances are sulfated polysaccharides extracted from brown algae (seaweed). Fucoidan has been studied for its diverse biological activities. It appears this substance has blood thinning properties and has an influence on the immune system.”

He continues: “Fucoidan (sulfated alpha-L-fucan) is a sulfated polysaccharide and is found primarily in the cell walls of several species of brown seaweed, such as kombu, limu moui, wakame (and mekabu), hijiki and bladderwrack.”

Most of the clinical immune research has been done on animals, using wakame and also on its special structure called mekabu (available from Eden Foods). Mekabu is the green crunchy plant in seaweed salad in sushi restaurants. See the sketch of the wakame fronds and the mekabu spiral structure, just above the life-giving holdfast support.

My discussion is all about getting these wonderful ingredients only in food, not in supplements. There’s very little human research (if any) in the amounts and concentrations placed in supplements, whereas, there are tens of thousands of years of normal, daily ingestion of these seaweeds as food, in normal appetite portions.

One teaspoon of a powdered seaweed is equivalent to eating a whole plate of seaweed. It takes about 40 pounds of seaweed to make one pound of powdered product.

The oldest Japanese recipes do not call for seaweed to be cooked (for varieties tender enough to eat this way). This may be healthier as science shows, that unlike Iodine, Fucoidan is disrupted by heat.

1. Tear up all the nori into approximately 2 inch x 2 inch pieces
2. Pour first 1/2 cup sake into a small pan on medium heat *
3. Add nori and cook until almost all of the sake is absorbed
4. Repeat until 1 1/2 cups of sake is almost all absorbed
5. Add soy sauce, mirin, and sesame seeds
6. Add last 1/2 cup of sake
7. Cook until all of the liquid is absorbed and the seaweed has a very thick consistency.
8. Keep in an air tight container in the fridge.

Use over rice, on top of salads, over fish etc.,
For an Ochazuke:
1) For each 1/2 cup cooked brown rice, use 2 tbs seaweed preserve and 1 tsp wasabi paste, 1/4 tsp ume paste.
2) Pour on hot sencha tea, brewed strong.
3) Enjoy right away after mixing with your spoon!

* Frankly, I am going to try this recipe with just letting the seaweed absorb the incremental amounts of sake and other liquids without cooking, and see if it will absorb enough over time. No harm in trying it this way; I can always cook it a little at the end. I saw another wakame recipe that just used a no-cook absorption method, so it is possible and will keep more of the beneficial fucoidan.

** I never toast seeds; they lose too much nutrition, even on low heats. Use white and // or black sesame seeds.
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Enjoy! More next week. Have a safe and happy holiday!
Best to all — Em

P.S. Please share this with your favorite social media site. To read more articles, please use the Title Archive tab on the upper navigation bar. Please subscribe to my blog on the right side-bar.

(c)2009 Em at https://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com
If you desire to use or quote more than a couple of sentences from my article, please write for permission to the About Me page on the upper navigation bar. Please include the address of the site where you wish to use it. Thanks!

If I just had a chance to grab 3 or 4 supplements in an emergency, to help keep my Health and to prolong my life, Iodine containing foods would be one of them (or a special supplement, I mention in the prior articles below). Yes, Iodine is that important.

Iodine is especially essential for diabetics. Indeed, it is essential for everyone, as most people are definitely deficient.

Read my first two articles so you can be up to speed on the “why” of Iodine.

Now that you’ve done that reading, let’s continue with some ways to use seaweeds, the most iodine-rich, alkaline food.

___ I use powdered Kombu seaweed to make soups with a creamy-rich texture without the dairy or less-nutritious thickeners. I sprinkle it in stews to make a thicker, more nutritious sauce than flour, arrowroot or cornstarch would give. Ditto for salad dressing. I sneak it into baked goods or pancakes. Luckily, Iodine is not harmed by heat. I use it as a topper for rice, along with other choices. It has a pleasant sea flavor which is not aggressive or strange. Use it to substitute for salt in any savory smoothie. Sneak a little into some other smoothies. Add some to pickled foods. You have to be inventive as most modern western cookbooks won’t have seaweed recipes.

___ I use a lot of Japanese recipes. Their cooks are the masters of seaweed cuisine, and it goes way beyond just wraps for sushi. You’ll also find recipes in Welsh books (as laver), in Macrobiotic cookbooks and in many other cuisines on a varying scale. In these recipes, I use the real sheets of seaweed.

___ You can also make your own version of Gomashio, a shelf stable condiment using Celtic sea salt and organic ingredients.

Seaweed has virtually no calories, is rich in fiber as well as Iodine and it has just about every needed trace mineral known to humankind.

Here is an adaptable recipe.
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Em’s Kaisou Salada Serves 4

Make ahead:5 grams ( 1/8 oz.) EACH dried wakame, dried arame and dried hijiki seaweeds I use only Eden Foods brand, as they source their organic seaweeds carefully.

1) In two separate bowls, soak the arame and hijiki together for 30 minutes, and in the other bowl, soak the wakame for 10 minutes.

2) Trim the hard stems off each bunch of mushroom stalks, divide the bundles, keeping the mushrooms intact and whole.

2 scallions (spring onions, green onions) and ice water with cubes

3) Cut the onions into 1 1/2″ long thin strips and plunge into the ice water so they curl up.

1/2 English cucumber, cut lengthwise, cut into thin, half-moon slices

1 bunch of red radishes, washed and sized as desired. (Also, wash the leaves and dry them. Use for soups or stir frys.) OR use a desired amount of white icicle (daikon) radish

4) Cook the wakame and enokitake mushrooms in boiling water for 2 minutes. Add the arame and hijiki for a few seconds and immediately remove from the heat and then drain.

5) Transfer to a bowl. Sprinkle on marinade from 1 1/4 teaspoon of Celtic sea salt and 15 ml (1 Tablespoon) organic brown rice vinegar while the weeds and mushroom mix is still warm. Then, chill everything in the refrigerator.

1) Place greens in a large bowl, add cucumber and radish slices, then top with the seaweed-enokitake mixture. Garnish with the spring onion curls and the seeds and then serve each portion with some dressing, just before eating.

P.S. Please share this with your favorite social media site. To read more articles, please use the Title Archive tab on the upper navigation bar. Please subscribe to my blog on the right side-bar.

(c)2009 Em at https://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com
If you desire to use or quote more than a couple of sentences from my article, please write for permission to the About Me page on the upper navigation bar. Please include the address of the site where you wish to use it. Thanks!

Last week I shared the incredible importance for diabetics and everyone else to have optimal blood levels of iodine and iodide — for successful metabolism, weight-loss, robust immunity and to cure or alleviate many afflictions, including both kinds of DIABETES! You need to Read Diabetics, Iodine and Health – Part 1, here! Now, here’s Part 2.

Many people do not realize that soda pop, in addition to the dangerous sugars or high fructose corn syrup, also contains bromine (in Mountain Dew, Fresca and even orange Gatorade, among others). Bromine takes over your vital receptors meant for iodine.

Mainstream bakery products and pesticides are other large sources of contaminating bromine. Check artisan breads as they are less likely to use dough “conditioners” as they tend to let dough rise naturally and get the proper texture from Time and Temperature after kneading.

Chlorine and Fluorine do the same thing, blocking receptors for Iodine’s use. In fact, the very Iodine you desperately need is actually excreted, if the receptors have already been occupied by the other Halogen Family members, Chlorine, Bromine or Fluorine.

If your municipal water is chlorinated and / or fluoridated, stop drinking it! Use a dechlorinator* in your bath / shower too, as much of the contaminant is chlorine as gas breathed in with the steam. To drink, use spring waters or professionally filtered waters, in the hope that they are removing the fluoride and chlorine.

Then, become an advocate to prevent the fluoride, a toxic by-product from the aluminum industry, from being used (for NO good reason) in YOUR water. There’s no proof it helps with dental cavities, when you look at the hard science studies.

The application of chlorine serves a safety purpose while water is traveling to your home, but it should be removed just before you use your water to bathe or drink.

Other Iodine robbers include Iodine-depleting prescription drugs and over-the-counter preparations (OTC), e.g. aspirin, coumadin / warfarin and steroids. If you have been taking these drugs, you must take the Dr. Broda Barnes, MD Temperature Protocol test at home, to more-accurately check your thyroid function! See below.**

Now that we’ve tried to erase the environmental saboteurs, back to Iodine, itself!

Living in the Pacific Northwest, with large Asian populations and beaches where seaweed is actively harvested, I come to this discussion with a very positive view of seaweed consumption. I truly enjoy all the different seaweeds which I’ve eaten. I use many regularly, and the unique ones I’ve tried were tasty, too.

Nori, Ao Nori, Kombu, Wakame, Dulse, Kelp and Hijiki are my favorites. But, there are many more for me to try! More on sources, below.

Dr. Ryan Drum, PhD, is a former university professor and researcher in cell biology and chemistry. Now, he teaches herbology at Seattle’s famed Naturopathic Medical School – Bastyr University. Ryan is a practicing medical herbalist who conducts workshops in his specialty, seaweeds.

Seaweeds are important as they are the best natural Iodine / iodide sources, and as at least 1 in every 10 women in America have already been diagnosed with thyroid problems, Iodine is vital.

And, this thyroid epidemic is actually much worse, as mainstream medicine’s blood “tests” do NOT truly show the problem. Some endocrinologists say 1 in 4 women have over-active or under-active thyroids. Women are more at risk because female thyroids are automatically twice as large as males’, so women need much more Iodine in their diet! So, diabetic women can have a double-whammy, and need Iodine, for sure.

And, stress, for anyone, also creates the need for more dietary Iodine for your thyroid. Many ethnic groups are also at increased risk — read more about Wilson’s Syndrome.

About 17 years ago, my naturopathic physician introduced me to this next test, and I have always been “borderline”. But, as my symptoms are worsening, I have begun to use much more seaweed than before. My doctor explained the only accurate way for you to monitor your thyroid yourself is using famed endocrinologist Dr. Broda Barnes, MDs temperature protocol. It will accurately assess your thyroid’s well-being. See below.**

Dr. Ryan Drum knows the most about how the iodine in seaweed can improve your thyroid’s function. Seaweed’s good form of Iodine (isotope 127) protects you against the harmful Iodine (isotope 131 form) which we absorb from our environment thanks to the Nuclear Industry – from above-ground nuclear testing and also from nuclear power plants. The only protection is to stop absorption if we breathe it in. How do you do that?

Diabetics, and everyone else, needs to learn to eat seaweed!You cannot overdose on Iodine when it is eaten as food.

Seaweed’s good Iodine isotope 127 is also protective:
___ before and after having Cat Scan and X-ray radiation
___ being the first line of defense in the Iodine 131 environmental pollution
___ for breast cancer, ovarian and endometrial cancers. Low iodine increases the production of estrogens and your lifetime exposure amount of estrogen factors into your cancer risk. Obese people have more estrogenic activity (men make estrogen too, source of “man boobs”).
___ and helpful in all the conditions you learned about in Part 1, including diabetes!

70 years ago, the average American ate 500 – 800 micrograms of Iodine a day in their usual diet. In 1995, the average American only ate 135 micrograms! Good iodine foods were being eliminated and / or people vastly increased the iodine-depletors, as well as the nuclear age happening, with it’s harmful Iodine 131 pollution to latch-on to our body receptors.

Dr. Drum personally uses 5 – 10 grams of brown and red seaweeds daily! That’s about 1.75 ozs. Aim to work up to getting about one Tablespoon of powdered kelp a day, either by sprinkling on food or in capsules (buy filled or do it yourself), over the next few weeks. Seaweed is an alkaline pH food, and that is another reason that it is SO important and healthful for us! See note below if you are already on thyroid medication.

Brown seaweeds like the kelps (especially the Fucus species) are highest in Iodine. Hijiki is also good. Brown kelps contain 500 – 1,500 parts per million of Iodine. Nori has 15 ppm of Iodine — big difference. Nori is the seaweed used in sushi wraps. I suggest using powdered kombu (a kelp), in just about everything. It is the seaweed used in Japanese dashi soup-stock which is a basic component of healthy Japanese diet choices. Heating does not affect Iodine content.

The red seaweeds, including Dulse, Nori and Gracellaria are also helpful. Nori is easy to find in health stores. Get organically farmed seaweeds or those harvested in pristine areas. You will not find the organic, clean ones in Oriental Groceries; they are of unknown origin.

All seaweeds are edible says Dr. Nan Fuchs, PhD. But seaweed from polluted waters is NOT safe to eat!

Get your seaweed only from reliable sources, from people who harvest them in the cleanest waters possible, like the ones I mention below. Much seaweed is sourced from China these days. BEWARE of any Chinese foods; they have heavily polluted their land, waters, sea and air, without regulations or cleanup, so their products are unhealthy!

Ocean Harvest Sea Vegetable Company in Mendocino, California have recipes on their website and sell online. I have tried some alaria and sea palm from them and some pickled seaweeds I purchased in Mendocino may have been theirs, too. Ocean Harvest Sea Vegetable Company in Mendocino. They sell the seaweeds in as little as 1 oz. packages, so you can try LOTS of different kinds easily.

The protocol for using seaweed for those who are already on thyroid medication is different and you and your physician might arrange a telephone consultation with Dr. Drum to understand the procedure. Contact Dr. Drum at his website; he does his phone consultations between 6 am and 10am Pacific Coast Time.

** Dr. Broda Barnes. MD procedure for home-testing.
If you have severe arthritis, this test may not work as well for you as minute muscle twitching may raise your temperature on the thermometer; in this instance, if your temperature ins above 98.2F during the test, get more guidance from a properly trained naturopathic physician.***

*** I regard properly trained naturopathic physicans to have degrees from College of Naturopathic Medicine, Portland, Oregon, Bastyr University, Seattle, Southwest College of NM in Scottsdale. Arizona, the Naturopathic medical colleges in Toronto, Canada and in Connecticut, USA. Naturopaths trained in Australia are usually well-trained as are German and Swiss naturopaths. Often, naturopathic physicians have several medical degrees.

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Why I Am So Passionate About This!

The prevention of type 2 diabetes, especially, is looming as one of the most pressing public health concerns of the 21st century ... with ever-increasing numbers of teens and children being diagnosed ... with two-thirds of U.S. adults now overweight or obese and, therefore, seriously at-risk.
Type 2 diabetes is mostly preventable, through education and action. So, it is outrageous that the number of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes is rising, world-wide, and the age they are stricken with it is falling!

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